The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) requires that all employees who will be performing safety sensitive functions be screened for any unresolved drug and/or alcohol violations within the past three years. Employees with unresolved violations must not be allowed to perform safety sensitive functions. These pre-employment screenings must search the last 3 years of driving history for each employee.
Starting on January 6th, 2023, the FMCSA Clearinghouse will contain 3 years of driving history. Any pre-employment screening that is conducted on or after that date will be marked as complete after the new employer does one full query within the Clearinghouse. This means that hiring employers will no longer be required to reach out to previous employers in order to receive driving records, since everything that is needed will be accessible in the Clearinghouse.
As a reminder, the Clearinghouse only contains driver records for FMCSA regulated drivers. If the employee is subject to drug and alcohol testing under different authorities, such as the Federal Transit Authority (FTA), different pre-employment screening requirements are in place. If the new employee is subject to both FMCSA and FTA regulations as part of their job duties, a full query must still be performed within the Clearinghouse.
As a reminder, employers must perform a limited query in the Clearinghouse for each of their FMCSA regulated drivers every year. The annual query requirements have not changed.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to PRISM’s Risk Control Department.